CME Group to Launch Solana Futures as Demand for Crypto Derivatives Grows

CME Group, the world's largest derivatives marketplace, plans to introduce SOL$156.67 futures on March 17, expanding its suite of cryptocurrency derivatives, it said in a press release on Friday. The new contracts, pending regulatory review, will allow traders to manage SOL price risk with two contract sizes: 25 SOL and 500 SOL.

“With the launch of our new SOL futures contracts, we are responding to increasing client demand for a broader set of regulated products,” said Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group’s Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products.

The contracts will be cash-settled, using the CME CF Solana-Dollar Reference Rate, which tracks SOL’s price daily at 4:00 p.m. London time. CME already offers bitcoin and ether futures, which have seen significant growth in trading activity. The firm reported an average daily volume of 202,000 contracts this year, up 73% from 2024.

Industry leaders view the move as a step toward greater institutional adoption of crypto. Teddy Fusaro, president of Bitwise Asset Management, noted that CME’s crypto derivatives have helped pave the way for regulated financial products, including ETFs. Kyle Samani of Multicoin Capital added that such products give sophisticated investors more tools to manage risk and exposure.

With Solana gaining traction among developers and investors, the addition of SOL futures highlights the increasing demand for regulated crypto trading products. It could also pave the way for SOL exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

"CME’s decision to list SOL contracts today significantly increases the possibility that corresponding spot ETF applications could be approved in the foreseeable future," said Sui Chung, CEO of CF Benchmarks.

"While an exact timeline for approval is hard to discern, it’s probable the SEC will want to see several months’ worth of trading on the CME and be satisfied that the futures correlate with the spot market before it looks to approve ETF applications for SOL."

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